LEGOs are building blocks for kids' success

By Susan Silvers, Staff writer

Published 6:44 pm, Monday, August 31, 2009

MONROE -- He found out about the contest only an hour before, but 12-year-old Ryan Bell knew he had to be part of it. So in a mere half-hour, he created a rock concert -- or a model of one, fashioned entirely from Lego blocks.

Ryan's creation featured an audience sitting amid palm trees, watching the band, including a lead singer, guitarists and drummer.

"I love music, so I just thought of it," said the boy, an incoming seventh-grader at Jockey Hollow School.

And he loves Legos. "He has two or three crates," his mother, Donna, said of the interlocking plastic pieces, which have captivated youngsters and adults for decades.

"They're addictive," Ryan said.

And plenty of other youngsters from Monroe and nearby towns apparently agree. More than 70 of them, ages 3 to 13, signed up for Wednesday's Lego design contest at the Edith Wheeler Memorial Library. Winners in three categories were presented a Jennie's pizza, with admissions to Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo going to those receiving honorable mentions.

The contest was the brainchild of Adrienne Wilson, the children's services librarian, who said other libraries have held similar events and that it was particularly appropriate for Monroe this year.

"The theme for the summer is Be Creative,' " she said, referring to the library's schedule of children's programs. "I thought it would be cool to incorporate it."

Eager competitors toted their designs, large and small, for inspection by the judges -- First Selectman Thomas Buzi, Library Director Margaret Borchers and Friends of the Library President Lorraine Riedel. They graded the contestants on such features as creativity, degree of difficulty and realism.

But it wasn't easy.

"It's brutal," Buzi said.

Thomas Scinto, 10 of Monroe, certainly captured Borchers' attention. He built a model of the library itself, but with a visionary perspective that showed how it might work in the future, with features like robots to put books back on the shelves.

Adults said they were amazed by the attention to detail the young builders demonstrated in designing their Lego models.

For example, 5-year-old twins Andrew and Jake Moreno, who took top honors in the 3-to-6-year-old age group for their model of a movie theater, not only had an audience watching a big screen, but a large snack bar with busy attendants.

"The guys are handing out drinks," marveled mother Katie Young, laughing in appreciation as she chatted with another parent.

Ten-year-old Michael Pertoso, of Shelton, who earned an honorable mention for his restaurant with a downstairs bar and elegant rooftop dining, got some laughs by including someone sitting in the bathroom, newspaper in hand.

Luke Blaskewicz, of Monroe, who took top honors among the 11- to 13-year-olds for his helicopter, said he wasn't related to anyone who worked for Sikorsky Aircraft. But his imagination resulted in one power-packed model.

"It has lots of rockets and missiles and a jail," the Christian Heritage School seventh-grader said, pointing out the features. There were also two escape doors.

He said he's been developing aspects of his helicopter for 2½ years, although he's always breaking up pieces and starting anew.

His mom, Antoinette, said Legos are one of his prime diversions. "He's always building these things," she said, adding she wouldn't mind if this childhood passion evolved into a career in engineering or architecture.

There were a few girls who competed, too.

Hannah Molwitz, 9, of Monroe said she competed primarily because her two brothers did. She created a trophy spelling "Lego" on two levels. "I didn't know what I was gonna build," she said.

Nine-year-old Dylan Cortese, of Newtown, was thrilled to win his age group with his towering "Energy Emporium," which would convert air and pollution and into energy. But that wasn't the only reason he liked the contest.